Infinite Darkness
by calisunset
Summary: The Year is 2085. It has been 70 years since the earth began to die. More than 60% of the earth's population has expired and it's up to a crew of 7 astronauts under the command of Captain Bo Dennis to find a new place to call home. However there is more lurking in space's infinite darkness than they know.


**_A/N: So this is a little idea that popped into my head a couple weeks ago, I know I still have two other stories to complete, but I wanted to get this down before it flew out of my mind. I have a semi-clear idea of where this is going, and it of course fits in with my general theme of genres. We've got a sci-fi, outer space thriller for you this time. I hope you enjoy._**

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><p><strong><span>Infinite Darkness<span>**

**_The Year is 2085. It has been 70 years since the earth began to die._**

**_More than 60% of the earth's population has expired and it's up to a crew of 7 astronauts under the command of Captain Bo Dennis to find a new place to call home. However there is more lurking in space's infinite darkness than they know._**

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><p>CHAPTER 1<p>

"Yo Bo-Bo! It's launch day time to get those sweet cheeks a movin'!" Kenzi shouted as she pounded on the door of her best friend's bedroom. There was a grumbling followed by a distinct female voice, and a loud thump sounded from the other side of the door followed by more grumbling and another groggy voice.

A moment later the door swung in exposing a frazzled brunette, her hair tussled in volumes, wrapped in a twisted dark red bed sheet.

"Coffee?" The brunette asked. Kenzi gave a slight roll of her eyes which were already hidden under thick dark makeup despite the early hour, and she gave a small knowing grin as brought her hands up to eye level and handed the brunette a navy blue mug with the NASA logo on the side filled with warm caffeinated liquid. "Good work Navi." The brunette half heartedly teased as she swung the door further open retreating back into her room, heading toward her in-suite bathroom, allowing the single sheet to fall from her body as she slammed the bathroom door shut.

Kenzi shook her head and folded her arms across her chest as she looked on into the brunette's messy room, cloths scattered across the floor. Kenzi made her way in and began to slap lightly on a naked rump that was face up in front of her.

"Rise and shine big boy." Kenzi smiled as she slapped the exposed bottom again. The pillow which had been over the man's head moved as he tossed it aside, wavy medium black locks fell into his eyes and he pushed them away as he looked up at who had pulled him from his slumber. "Thank you for visiting the Bobalicious Bed and Breakfast, where there's always a bed and never any breakfast, but I'm afraid its check out time." The man nodded and flashed her a small dimpled smile as he stood unashamed, and moved out of the bed and to a corner where his clothing lay over a chair haphazardly. Kenzi's eyes grew wide as he turned to face her before pulling up his grey boxer briefs, followed by a pair of faded jeans. He gave her another smile before walking out of the room his shirt and shoes in hand.

Just then Bo reemerged, her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail, and a toothbrush hanging from her mouth. To Kenzi's relief she had managed to put on a robe before reentering.

"You get 'em both?" Bo asked as she crossed the room to her closet, pulling out a tee shirt that had miraculously made it's way onto a hanger.

"Both of them?" Kenzi asked with a cocked brow.

Bo nodded toward the bed where there was a lump of blankets moving up and down slowly. Kenzi gave her friend a pointed look before moving toward the bed and ripped the blanket off the half naked female form.

"At least this one is somewhat dressed." Kenzi huffed under her breath as she shook the woman's leg.

"Didn't hear you complaining earlier." Bo teased and she smirked at her best friend as she crossed back to the bathroom, spitting out the remainder of her toothpaste and rinsing.

Kenzi quickly ushered the lithe blonde woman out of the room tossing her discarded dress and heels out after her into the main living room, before slamming Bo's bedroom door. She turned to see Bo shoving a few of the cloths from the floor into a black duffle bag.

"Really Bo? We're about to leave on a multi year journey and you are just packing now?"

The woman shrugged.

"You know me Kenz, I've moved around enough to have only enough to fit into my bag. If it doesn't fit, it doesn't go."

Kenzi shook her head.

"It's a great mantra and all, but me, I don't think I could live without my shoe collection."

"Yeah, I saw the two cases of boots in the hall last night, not exactly regulation." Bo smirked as she threw a few tops into her bag.

"Well those pants aren't exactly regulation either." Kenzi posed back as she took in the brunette's skintight black leather pants she was wearing with her flight academy faded black cotton tee.

The two women stared at each other for a moment before bursting out into a fit of laugher.

"One last chunky monkey pint for the road?" Kenzi asked as she turned to leave the room.

"You read my mind." Bo grinned as she threw the last of her very few prized possessions into her bag and zipped it, heading out into the main room after her best friend.

Half an hour later the women headed out of their shared onsite bungalow where they had lived as roommates for the last three months in preparation for their latest mission. The women hopped into Bo's classic beat up yellow muscle car, and the tires screeched as they peeled out onto the main road that led them over to base before they headed out later this evening to good ole' Launch Complex 39C, which had been built only fifteen years ago to accommodate the new larger ships being launched for the H.O.M.E. initiative.

Bo rolled her window down and breathed in the fresh air and looked out at the marshy everglades landscape as they curved past the other astronaut housing and down past the visitor's center. Bo smiled as she looked out over what she could see of the rocket garden, a place she always enjoyed visiting for its vast history of progress.

Seventy years ago the world began to change. The earth began to spoil as humanity started to use up the seemingly endless natural supplies the planet offered. The earth heated, and crops died. Little to nothing natural grew anymore outside of vast greenhouses, but those were rare, and less than ten percent of the world's remaining population ever got to taste the fresh unaltered vegetation they grew. It was at this time that the ocean depths that covered 71% of the earth began to evaporate. In time there was a drought that led to plague, and as the ocean dried into endless spances of sand, so did the earth's population. The 7.1 billion people who inhabited the earth began to die out, and now not even 40% of that was left.

In only sixty years the beautiful blue pools that once covered the earth, now only stretched 39% of it's surface, and it was declining by the day. Where you could once see a beautiful, prosperous green and blue plant from space, you now saw nothing but tan and red, with a few splashes of green and blue.

Miraculously Florida's Space Coast was one of the few places that had remained almost untouched by the devastation sweeping the earth, and Bo found that she could truly appreciate it's beauty, from it's rustic swamps to it's beautiful beaches. It was a far cry from the dead forest wasteland she had grown up in in Canada. She could remember the last snow, though she had been very, very young at the time, the ground wasn't even cool enough for it to stick, but she had rushed outside of the orphanage she lived in with all the other kids as they ran out side to catch the frozen water gleefully on their tongues, not realizing the magnitude of the event. That was thirty years ago now, and there hadn't been a single snow since.

"Ugh." Kenzi groaned from the passenger seat readjusting her oversized sunglasses. "Why did they have to pick one of the brightest, hottest places on earth to run a space program from?" Bo chuckled as she glanced over at her friend.

"We're about to launch into the great unknown, who knows how long it will be until we can see the sun again, take in all it's glory."

Kenzi raised her brow as she peeked over the top of her shades at Bo. She winced from the bright light and quickly covered her eyes again.

"You do realize that we will in fact be able to see the sun from outer space right? I think we both know this isn't your first pony ride."

Bo rolled her eyes and smirked.

"You know what I mean." She lifted one of her hands off the wheel and gestured around the car. "Maybe if you hadn't spent most of the night hiding under a vodka bottle at the bar with Tamsin, you wouldn't be missing your last few hours of sunlight on earth."

Kenzi shrugged.

"You have your way of saying goodbye, and I have mine." She turned to look out the window, shading her face with her hand. "Besides, what are you so chipper about? You just possibly had your last good lay for what could be years, light years even." Bo was suddenly pulled out of her happy mood. It was true, she did have a more than healthy sexual appetite, but she always preferred to focus on the mission and what she was doing not only for her country, but for mankind when she would embark on lengthy operations. Then again, those had only ever been for days or weeks at a time, the longest she had lived in orbit was four months, and even then she had taken a vested interest in a certain First Mate, however that had been poor judgment on her part, and she would not be making that mistake again… at least not with him… probably. _Damn_, she thought to herself. When she accepted this mission the details had all been very fuzzy, they were highly classified and kept under wraps, each layer only being unraveled, as it became an absolute need to know. What she did know was that there was not an apparent shelf life on this mission, and that it would last three years minimum, with an open expiration.

The women pulled up to the base and Bo parked in her usual spot, just far enough that no one would ding her already pretty damaged baby, but close enough that Kenzi wouldn't complain about the walk. She heaved a sigh and patted her car's hood before kissing the side of the door.

"I'll miss ya' girl." She said with a sad smile as she patted the car again.

"Dude, could you be more gross?" Kenzi groaned. "And why'd we have to park so far away this time, you know they're just going to move the beast to a storage lot the second your in orbit."

Bo just shook her head and gave her car a last pet.

"Don't listen to her girl." She whispered as she followed Kenzi through the parkinglot toward the massive base.

As they entered the tall modern building each flashed their ID badges. Bo's single duffle over her shoulder as Kenzi struggled with two large suitcases and two equally large duffle bags on either arm.

They made their way up a level and into the briefing room. Bo looked around the plain room with its cream-colored walls and sleek steel furniture. A tablet sat on a clear fiberglass podium, and a projector hung in the center of the room under two rows of steel chairs, each row with 4 seats. At the back of the room there was a metallic table with two pitchers of glistening and a tray of assorted cookies.

Bo grinned as she recognized a thin, handsome, dark skinned man leaning against the table sampling the treats. He was talking to another familiar face, one Bo was slightly less, but still pleased to see as the lithe muscular man turned his unshaved face, and curly blonde head in her direction flashing her a smile. She knew who would be accompanying her on this mission but unlike the rest of their flights, each trained solo for this project, so she actually hadn't seen either man since their last voyage to Nebula-4. She forced a smile back and a polite nod of recognition.

"Pahhh-llleeessseee tell me you are not considering going there again Bo-Bo." Kenzi muttered exasperatedly. Bo furrowed her brow.

"No. No way no." She snorted shaking her head.

"Good, because I cannot handle three years of puppy-dog stares and stage four clingers." Kenzi sighed. Bo continued her forced grin toward the man as she swung her leg out and kicked her best friend in the shin. "Owwwaahh!" Kenzi grumbled catching the attention of both men at the refreshment table.

"The fact that you can remember retro movie references and not seven times seven continues to make me fear for mine and the crew's safety. I swear I'll never understand how you possibly managed to pass your navigation exams."

Kenzi just shrugged.

"Easy, I cheated off my cousin Dimitri, and don't diss the classics."

Bo furrowed her brow in contemplation.

"Isn't Dimitri the one that got arrested for using Toronto's greenhouse as his personal grow house?"

Kenzi shook her head.

"No that was Yura. Dimitri is the lieutenant in the Russian Federal Space Agency."

Bo tilted her head to the side and hummed, she was impressed that any of Kenzi's seemingly endless cousins had amounted to much of anything, she like to tease Kenzi but the girl was incredibly sharp and had gotten them out of a pickle on more than one occation. Kenzi had a similar upbringing to her's. In and out of orphanages and distant family's homes until one day she was hauled off to the same group home as Bo and the two became thick as thieves, eventually deciding on entering the academy together.

"Good to know." Bo then directed her attention to the front of the room where an unfamiliar blonde woman sat in one of the chairs in the front row. Bo knew it had to be the Scientist and ship's doctor that they were sending up with them. She had never met the woman but had glossed over her profile in her mission packet. Some fancy hot shot doctor who had discovered multiple new plant and water something or anothers, she hadn't really paid all too close attention, it was a bunch of gobbeldygook to her, but her resume was rather lengthy and she did have a few NASA projects behind her name. All she really knew about the woman was that Tamsin thought she was way too uptight, and always had her nose buried in a book or some experiment, declining her offers to join her at the bar to blow off some steam as the two had been roomed together for the past three months.

She looked around again somehow not surprised that her First Helmsman had yet to show if Kenzi's hung-over state was anything to go by. She would usually cringe at the thought of having an intoxicated pilot, but she knew Tamsin well enough to know that she'd sober up and kick into professional mode the second she needed to… that and the fact that she knew in the following hours they would be going through lengthy last minute medical procedures and would hook the woman up to an IV and flush the leftover booze out of her system. Flight prep was always the worst in Bo's opinion. She was always too amped up for the mission and just wanted to get to the ship, she could already feel her fingers itching to be back on the controls.

She went to move to greet the newcomer, as she had worked with all of the other crew previously and knew more than she would care to about most of them, however she was intercepted by a scruffy smiling face.

"Bo." He nodded smiling.

"First Mate Thornwood." Bo responded professionally, causing the man's face to drop slightly.

"Commander." He nodded again forcing his cheesy smile. "Pardon, I didn't realize that we were back to formalities."

"I'd like to keep my ship professional lieutenant, it's going to be a long ride." Bo responded as she moved around him to continue her pursuit of the blonde doctor leaving a somewhat frustrated First Mate in the dust.

At the back of the room Kenzi was shoving a whole cookie into her mouth, leaning on the dark, handsome man's shoulder.

"We placing bets on how long it takes for that disaster to happen again?" The man smirked down at Kenzi. The woman made a mock shocked face and punched the man in the arm.

"Hey! That's my B-F-F you're talking about there buddy!" She said through a mouthful of cookies. The man laughed. "And I'm giving it a month." She added quickly as she pulled a crumpled bill out of her top. The man shook his head.

"I thought that was your B-F-F we were talking about?" He chuckled grabbing the bill and examining it before handing it back to the small, dark haired girl. "And I see your month and raise it three weeks." Kenzi scoffed.

"Oh you're on Santiago!" The man laughed as the two shook on it.

"Excuse me, we haven't met yet, I'm Bo." Bo said as she approached the blonde from behind, coming to her side and extending her hand. Her eyes grew wide and her heart paused for a moment when the woman flipped her long blonde hair behind her shoulder, and turned bright brown eyes up her with a polite smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Captain Dennis, I'm Lauren, Dr. Lauren Lewis." The woman said as she stood to meet Bo's level extending her hand and giving Bo's a firm shake.

Bo studied the woman's face. She was one of the most, if not the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Her skin fine and smooth like porcelain, her jaw sharp and angular, and she had the most beautiful smile that cause a slight cleft in her chin as she grinned. _Professional ship._ Bo repeated to herself as she snapped her eyes up from the woman's perfect set of pink lips that she imagined had to be beyond soft, and back up to her honey-brown eyes.

"Please, call me Bo." _Okay, so much for professional._ Bo thought as she smiled back at the beautiful blonde. "It's an honor to work with someone so accomplished." _What am I saying? I barely even read her profile… then again I know that there were a lot of big words and it was super long, so I'm pretty sure I'm on the right track…_ "We usually don't get a skilled medical professional on these missions, First Lieutenant, Chief Communications Officer Hale Santiago," she gestured back toward the man who was laughing with Kenzi. "Has a small background in the medical field so he usually patches us up if we need it, but it will be nice to have a skilled set of hands on board." Bo let out a nervous breath she didn't know she'd been holding. _It'll be nice to have a skilled set of hands on board? What the hell was that Dennis? Way to be a leader, she probably thinks you're a creep now and will try to back out of the mission._ Bo scolded her self internally. However, if Lauren did pick up on the sexual innuendo she did not let on as she kept her smile steady, and a professional air about her.

"Thank you Cap-Bo." Lauren smiled as she rolled her eyes upward as if to chastise herself for the slip, Bo didn't know why, but she found it incredibly adorable. "It's an honor to work with you as well, you were the youngest female commander in NASA's history, and while your resume may be short, it certainly is commendable."

"Why thank you doctor, that means a lot coming from you." Bo said in a flirty tone. What was she doing? Luckily or unluckily their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a throat clearing a few feet in front of them.

Everyone in the room turned to see a shorter balding man in slacks and a thick navy vest over his white button down shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Though he may have been shorter in stature everyone quieted down and gave him their full attention as he spoke.

"It's good to see most of you are here." He said with a tight smile as he looked from the group over toward the door, waiting on the final two crew members. "I know that most of you are acquainted, but if you could please be sure to extend Dr. Lewis the same warm camaraderie I would be forever grateful." The man gave a warm smile to Lauren who nodded back.

"What-o, I think we're tardy to the party." A feminine voice snorted. Everyone turned to see an attractive but steely blonde holding a small black duffle similar to Bo's, next to her was a smirking dark haired man with a mustache and goatee. Bo was surprised to find the man's hair trimmed neatly opposed the greasy tussled locks he had sported ever since she had met him, however unsurprisingly the man still wore quite a bit of black and metal accessories.

"How nice of you to finally join us." The man said as he nodded for the two latecomers to take a seat.

"How took a dump in his bed?" The steely blonde whispered in Kenzi's ear as she slid into the seat next to her. Kenzi snorted a laugh earning the pair a glare from the authoritative figure.

"As I was saying," He shot another disapproving glance toward the girls slouching back in their chairs. "It is an honor to have Dr. Lewis on this mission. This project is one of grave importance, and effects not only those in this room or on this base, but the entire human race." He paused as he let the weight of what he had said and was to say hang in the air. Everyone sat up straighter in their seats. "As you know this mission has been highly classified, and on a need to know basis. We are T-Minus eight hours till we launch on the greatest expedition, and the largest undertaking our government, or any other has ever known." Bo swallowed thickly as the man continued. "You were each chosen specifically. Though you were chosen because you absolutely are the best of the best at your positions, you were also chosen because none of you have any real familial ties." He only briefly allowed that to sink in before continuing on. "You need to know that there is a possibility that you may not be coming back. You are going further than we have ever gone, for longer than anyone ever has." Bo took a deep heavy breath. She had a feeling that this was a possibility, there was always a possibility that they might not return from a mission, it was the nature of the job, and she had accepted that a long time ago. However there was something in her old mentors eyes when he said it this time that made her feel like it could be truer this time than ever. "You already know that you will be exploring deeper than we have before, but you will also be touching down on planets that have never seen human life. You will have been selected as the team to find our new home." There was a sharp intake of breath from each crewmember as they hung on the man's every word. "I know half of you have planetary walk experience, and the rest of you have been trained as best we can, but there is no way for us to know what all you might be facing, we have no idea what conditions or life you may encounter. As you know none of the planets in our solar system are able to sustain human life, and have been explored endlessly. That is why we are sending you out to Nebula-4, there are seven planets in that galaxy and we've only explored the one closest to our own. It does show potential signs of future habitation, and with only plant forms showing signs of intelligent life. However the planet is not climate stable, and the research teams who have been frequenting there have reported that nothing earth native has successfully been able to grow in the tropical temperatures that then plummet two weeks a month into an endless night." Lauren was just nodding along with everything the man was saying, and it made sense to Bo why they would need a scientist on this venture.

"That's not to say that we are not taking Uramila into serious consideration, but we need to find out if there is something closer to earth, further away from it." He paused again as he scanned the room and his eyes stopped as they landed on Lt. Dyson Thornwood who had his hand in the air. He nodded at the lieutenant to speak.

"Sir, what if we fail to find another suitable planet?"

The man pursed his lips in a thin line.

"Should the mission fail to succeed then we will go ahead with Project Ragnarök." He let out a small inaudible sigh. "Thanks to Dr. Lewis we have made great strides in creating a vessel that can launch as a space station and home to the earth's population, growing what we need to sustain us. However, we are still unable to create a ship large enough to house everyone and the few animal species we have left, and while we are working to duplicate the ship Odin, his sister Freya has yet to even make it past the drawing boards. Odin can only house maybe a little less than half of the earth's population, so you can see why we need this mission to be a success." His words were heavy, and even the wisecrackers of the group suddenly realized the levity of their endeavor. They had somewhat known what they were signing up for, they were a somewhat egotistical lot, however now even the most proud were finding their deepest doubts in themselves bubbling to the surface. "Odin is near completion, but with the way the trajectory the earth is currently on we will not have his sister ship complete before we run out of our natural resources." There was a silence among them as they each contemplated the mission ahead and headed the man's words.

Finally Bo stood, breaking the silence.

"General McCorrigan, you can count on us sir." She then saluted the man, as the others rose to their feet and followed suit.

"Thank you Captain Dennis, I know you'll make human kind proud. I wish I could be there with you more than in spirit, but I'll be with you in that control room every step of the way. Good luck ladies and gentlemen." And with that the man saluted them and headed toward the door. He paused and turned back in the doorway, giving Bo a reassuring smile and a nod. He then turned to the row of bags the crew had lined across the wall. He rolled his eyes when he took in the two giant zebra print cases and turned back toward the group. "Malikov two regulation duffle bags." He pointed at her. "These will be locked in your personal storage facility until your return."

Kenzi scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"But what if I meet some totally yummy extra terrestrials? I can't have them thinking I always dress in those lame jumpsuits you make us wear."

Bo tried to stifle a laugh and even the corners of Lauren's mouth twitched into a grin at the youngest crewmember's antics.

"Two regulation bags Malikov." Trick repeated, although Bo could have sworn she caught the faint hint of a smirk as the man turned to leave again.

"General one more thing!" Bo called and the man turned to face her. "Take care of my baby while I'm away." She took her car keys out of her black leather jacket pocket that she had resting on her seat and tossed them to the man who caught them mid air.

"She'll be right where you left her when you get back." He said with a grin.

"Not a scratch!" She said narrowing her eyes and pointing at him. The man chuckled.

"Not a scratch Dennis." He shook his head and continued out of the room.

"Oh! And I want her sheltered in the rare event of a hurricane! I know this state used to be known for them!" She hollered after him, and could hear his chuckle from out in the hall.


End file.
